Hope you don't mind me commenting.... I don't think I've ever introduced myself, but I've been enjoying your posts for a while now, and thought you might find this interesting, as far as the question of belief goes.
The PBS show 'Secrets of the Dead' did a fascinating episode about the Salem event in which a historian speculated that ergot, a fungus that LSD is derived from, was blighting the rye that year. Ingesting bread made from it would bring on convulsions and hallucinations (and oh man, I can just imagine what Puritans are like when they are tripping) that were interpreted as possession.
The research was quite thorough, pulling in similar evidence of ergotism in Germany that led to mass executions (more witches were killed there than anywhere, IIRC), and a documented case in France from the 1950's with film footage of the victims who all ate contaminated bread from the same bakery.
It sounds wacky, but I'm sure I'm not doing the theory justice. Definitely worth renting, if you can find it somewhere.
Link to episode here (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_salem/index.html).
no subject
The PBS show 'Secrets of the Dead' did a fascinating episode about the Salem event in which a historian speculated that ergot, a fungus that LSD is derived from, was blighting the rye that year. Ingesting bread made from it would bring on convulsions and hallucinations (and oh man, I can just imagine what Puritans are like when they are tripping) that were interpreted as possession.
The research was quite thorough, pulling in similar evidence of ergotism in Germany that led to mass executions (more witches were killed there than anywhere, IIRC), and a documented case in France from the 1950's with film footage of the victims who all ate contaminated bread from the same bakery.
It sounds wacky, but I'm sure I'm not doing the theory justice. Definitely worth renting, if you can find it somewhere.
Link to episode here (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_salem/index.html).